19 Mar BE WHO G-D MEANT YOU TO BE AND YOU WILL SET THE WORLD ON FIRE START THE PARTY: LEARNING FROM AN UNCOUTH DICTATOR HOW TO CELEBRATE LIFE

The Farmer
A Texas farmer was
touring England. He
happened to meet an
English farmer and
asked him, “What
size farm do you

have?”
The Englishman proudly announced,
“Thirty-five acres!”
“Thirty-five acres?” the Texan scoffed.
“Why I can get in my truck at 8:00 AM
and start driving and at noon, I am still on
my farm. I can eat lunch and start driving
again and at 5:00 PM I am still on my
farm.
“Ah, yes,” the Englishman nodded in
understanding. “I had a truck like that
once.”
The Party
In the opening of the story of the book of
Esther, the Persian Emperor, King
Achashverosh, throws a massive feast to
celebrate his consolidation of power on
the Persian throne. It is a lavish, completely
over-the-top party, a drunken, decadent

bacchanal that lasts for a full 180 days.
And then, when the 180 days are over, he
throws yet another feast, lasting seven
days. The celebrations continue for 187
days, non-stop!
It seems strange. Although the only
aspect of the party of any obvious
relevance to the plot of the Purim story is
that the King has his wife killed for not
entertaining his drunken guests, the
Megillah provides us with verse after
verse of vivid description of the party
itself.
We learn of the setting of the party, the
guests, the vessels and utensils used, and
the materials and fabrics used to dress up
the banquet:
There were hangings of white, fine
cotton, and turquoise wool, held with
cords of fine linen and purple wool, upon
silver rods and marble pillars; the couches
of gold and silver were on a pavement of
variegated marble.
And they gave them to drink in golden
vessels, and the vessels differed from one
another, and royal wine was plentiful

according to the bounty of
the king.
Why does the book of
Esther feel the need to
familiarize us with all the
opulence of
Achashverosh’s banquet?
Do I really have to know
how many fabrics were
used at the feast and what
was their type? Do I really
have to know the types of
goblets used? How does
that help me understand
the story?
Rarely do the Torah and
the Tanach give vivid descriptions of
events unless it is important to grasp the
story. The Torah is not a classic history
novel; it is, as its name indicates, a book of
lessons and teachings. It wants us to learn
something. Why on earth would the king’s
notorious decadence be relevant to us?
In a Purim address, on Purim 5733,
March 18, 1973, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
suggested one beautiful explanation.
All In
The message of the Megillah is a
simple one, though in a way surprising.
When King Achashverosh throws a
party, he knows he must go all in. Not
for him was a mere hundred-day feast,
or goblets from silver instead of gold.
He makes a serious party and throws
everything he has at his disposal at the
party.
This king will not settle for mediocrity
or even normal standards of a feast. He
will not just get away with doing a fine
job. If he can do it over the top, he will
have it just that way! If he can drink
for 187 days, so be it. If he can give his
people a memory of a lifetime, this is
what he will do. No less.
Now, as the Talmud states, this king
was a fool. He wasted his money and
creativity on a foolish endeavor.
Achashverosh’s motives in throwing
his bash were far from holy. But the
Torah is telling us the story, the Rebbe
suggested, to teach us an invaluable
lesson.
Even this paranoid, foolish king
understood that in life you got to give
it all you got! You ought not to live a
life of “quiet desperation.” Do not
settle for smallness. You got to suck
the marrow out of life. Carpe Diem!
Life calls on us to live it to the fullest.

If even the Persian dictator understood
this, how much more do we—G-d’s
people—need to understand this! Do not
settle for smallness. Give life all you got.
Utilize every potential, every resource,
every opportunity, every faculty, and
every talent. Do not squander a moment,
and do not squander any aspect of your
soul.
Show up to life and to love with every
fiber of your being. Hold nothing back.
Dance to the end of love. Celebrate to the
heavens. Flex all your spiritual, physical,
and emotional muscles—let your infinite
light radiate and inspire every person you
encounter.
Don’t be stingy with your love and
passion. Be who G-d meant you to be and
you will set the world on fire.
If someone is blessed with the ability to
write, continued the Rebbe, then he or she
must find a way to use that to change the
world for the better. If you can raise 18
million dollars a year for Jewish education,
do not be content with 17 million. Do not
let fear or too much logic stifle you. Aim
for the top. Do not make your target close
and easy just to avoid fear and shame.
If you can build and spread goodness,
kindness, truth, morality, Yiddishkeit,
holiness, in yet a bigger and more effective
way — don’t be satisfied with small
measures. The days of an impersonal,
restrictive Judaism must remain behind
us. The Torah wants our youths, and each
of us, to develop wings—wings that will
propel them upward to reach their
maximum potential and change the world!
There Are Three Types of People: Those
Who Make Things Happen, Those Who
Watch Things Happen, and Those Who
Wonder What Happened. The Megilah
teaches us: Make things happen and think
big.